WHEN I THINK OF RESEARCH ........

     

                I have gained several insights about research from this course.  The first thing that I have learned about research that is of importance to me is that results may not always come out the way I anticipated them to come out.  The authors of the course book has reminded me that I may start off with one question in mind and end up researching another question (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).  I have also learned how important research is to the Early Childhood field.  It is because of different theorists researching that we know so much about children in the Early Childhood Field. 

            My ideas about the nature of doing research have changed significantly.  I formally associated research with a lab with several people looking for cures for cancer or leukemia.  I hardly associated research with the behavior of children.  I now have a better understanding of research and the different ways in which it is used.  I am much more familiar with the different aspects of research and the different categories that must be a part of research.  I can definitely understand the importance of research in the Early Childhood Field. 

            I have learned several lessons when it comes to planning, designing, and conducting research in the Early Childhood Field.  I’ve learned that the best research always involve collaboration between those who plan the research, those who carry out the research, those who participate in it, and those for whom the results will have an impact on (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).  I’ve learned that I must not be biased when conducting research.  I have also learned that there are ethical concerns that must be adhered to when I am planning a research study.  Planning out the research will definitely prevent problems.  The questions of what is to be researched, and how, when, and where the research is to take place, who will participate and what data will be collected and how it will be analyzed must be a part of the planning process (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010). 

            Some of the challenges that I have encountered were not being able to identify the independent and dependent variables in my research simulation.  I used the course book and the assistance of Dr. Carol Todd to meet and work through these challenges.  Dr. Todd gave me some great examples and comments that helped me to understand the difference between independent and dependent variables. 

            My perception of research in the field of Early Childhood has changed in many ways.  I now know that research involves a variety of things that we can use in the Early Childhood field.  One way is how we observe students.  The question we must ask ourselves is how was the data collected?  Was I biased during the process of observing the student?  What type methods were used in the research?  Was qualitative or quantitative methods used to observe or interview?  One thing that has been modified is how I will plan research that involves children.  I am almost sure that I may have been unknowingly biased in my observations or interviews. 

             I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my colleagues for your assistance in my learning process in this course.  Your discussions and blog posts have contributed greatly to my learning new information that has helped me in understanding various topics from this research course.  Thank you Dr. Todd for your helpful comments and all of the assistance you have given me during this research course.  Your professionalism and acts of kindness shall not be forgotten.

            My wish is that each of you has a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010).  Doing early childhood research:              International perspectives on theory and practice (2^nd ed.).  New York, NY: McGraw-       Hill

 

  

 

Research Around the World

This week I chose to view the website http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ which is in Australia.   Some of the current international research topics are:

 

Children’s Behavior

Play based Learning

Teaching and Learning

      Language and literacy

Preschoolers

 

The Australian’s Code of Ethics is very similar to our NAEYC.   The latest early childhood research is Theory into practice and Advocacy and leadership. 

 

What surprising facts/insights/new ideas about early childhood did you gain from exploring this international early childhood website?

            I read about their day care center which is called the Long Day care.   It is daycare for children of working families as well as after school care.   I gained knowledge about The Research in Practices Series (RIPS).  This is an easy-to-read resource for the early childhood professional which offers effective new approaches for those challenging issues which arise in the care and education of young children (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au).   This series covers a wide range of topics covered throughout the series.  These collections actually offer something to anyone who is interested in children’s early years (http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au).   

 

 What other noteworthy information did you find on this website?

            I viewed things on the site that are very similar to what we have here in the United States.   The Early Childhood Australia Online site actually sale journals on its site.  Most of the things that I viewed concerning how they educate their children is basically the same methods that we use in the United States.   This website was really interesting and I am sure that I will find something on this site that I can use to assist me with my research methods.

 

Reference

 

Early Childhood Australia http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/

Research that Benefits Children and Families - Uplifting Stories

          I have chosen to explore Option 2.  If I could choose any subject to research my topic of interest would be childhood diabetes.  The reason that I am choosing this topic is because my mother is a diabetic.  I am interested in finding out all that I can about diabetes because I have heard that diabetes can be genetic.    If it is genetic I would like to make certain that my brother who is seven years old is tested early on. 

            Since my research will not be restricted to certain rules and limitations I know that I will be able to come up with some great results.  My participants will be children who are from families that have diabetes.  This will assist me in figuring out whether diabetes is passed down from family members.  I will observe the diets of the participants and review medical records of family members of the participants.  This will give me some information on the risk that is involved in the children developing diabetes.  This study will be a long process because most diabetics’ are diagnosed because they have not eaten properly over a long period of time. 

            This research will make a positive contribution to the children and their families by determining whether diabetes is genetic or not.  If families know that diabetes is genetic they can then start to monitor what their children are eating and change their diets to assist them in a healthy way of eating.  This will be a positive outcome because we will all have healthier children because the awareness of childhood diabetes is now known.  Awareness is very important in childhood diabetes.  Research is very important and if it were not for research and researchers we would not know a lot the concepts, theories, and behaviors that are tied to Early Childhood Education.  As a researcher I will maintain professionalism and I will make certain that all of my participants are treated fairly.  I will not treat my participants as objects rather than subjects (Mac Naughton, Rolfe, & Siraj-Blatchford, 2010).

Reference

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S.A., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010).  Doing early childhood research

          International perspectives on theory and practice (2nd ed.).  New York, NY:  McGraw-Hill.

 

 

My Personal Research Journal

                My topic of interest is Cognitive Development.  I chose this topic because I have always been amazed with Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.  I am fascinated with how children learn just as Piaget was years ago.  In the Effective Programs and Practices course we observed young children at various child care facilities throughout the course.  As I observed it became apparent to me that children were not less intelligent than adults, they just think differently than adults (Cherry, n.d.).  This was what Piaget’s thoughts were as well. 

            My personal experience with cognitive development came to true form as I observed the children in various preschools and child care facilities.  The knowledge that I gained from observing children learning proved that several of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are indeed exactly what he theorized.  For example the preoperational stage which involves pretend play showed in several instances during my observations.  But the children still struggled with logic.   

            I have gained several insights from the course chapters for Week 1 and Week 2 as well as the research charts.  The course book outlines how to select a topic for research and how to design the research.  The research chart assignments has allowed me to become familiar with how to identify the participants involved in the research as well as how to locate the results of the research .  Knowing how to choose a topic and how to design your research is very important. 

            I am willing to share all of my resources to assist you, my colleagues, in whatever way I can to make certain that your research efforts are successful.  I am asking for your thoughts and/or opinions on my topic.  Any input you have will be greatly appreciated.  I am eager to hear from you.    

Reference

Cherry, K. (n.d.).  Piaget’s stages of cognitive development: Background and key concepts of                   Piaget’s Theory.  Retrieved from http://www.about.compsychology.

Week 8 Final Blog Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field

Week 8 Final Blog Issues and Trends in the Early Childhood Field

            I have fostered and shared my professional growth by listening to podcasts and exploring websites pertaining to Early Childhood Education.  I have even gained knowledge from reading my colleagues blog links concerning Early Childhood Education in international countries.  There are several consequences of learning about the international Early Childhood field.  My personal and professional development has been enhanced by reading articles from the websites of Save the Children.  I have gained so much knowledge from the issues in Africa such as poverty, stunting, malaria, and HIV.  All of these issues have changed my personal perspective of children in Africa.  These issues have shown me that our government and our nation are in a better predicament than that of Africa.  Even though poverty exist in the United States we are far better off than in Africa. 

            The second consequence is that most of the international countries that my colleagues have shared information on in their blogs share some of the exact goals, and mission statements in the field of Early Childhood Education as that of the United States.  Some of the countries are also a little different because that put more emphasis on investing in their programs of Early Childhood Education.  They invest because they expect great returns in the future.   The last consequence of learning about the international Early Childhood Education field is that I can now bring or raise awareness to other Early Childhood Education professionals about the importance of Early Childhood Education in other countries and how we can advocate to our policy makers to bring our standards of our own Early Childhood Education programs to meet the standards of the international countries.  In other words we can advocate to receive better funding for our Early Childhood Education programs so that we can compete with the international countries around the globe.

            The one goal that I hope for is that we will all learn from each other and that we will collaborate together to advocate for better standards and more high quality programs that will improve our young children’s growth and development so that they may reach their full potential and become productive citizens no matter what part of the world they live in.

           

 

 

International Early Childhood Issues Week 7 UNESCO

The three insights that I have gained from viewing the UNESCO’s website in Week 6 is:

·         UNESCO’s Quality childcare programs

·         UNESCO and Access and Equity

·         UNESCO’s Education in the 21^st Century

The UNESCO’s high quality childcare programs especially for the kids in the low-income households and the families that are at various disadvantages promote cognitive and linguistic development and school readiness (http://www.unesco.org).  Active involvement from parents and communities and relevant play and learning materials ensure that early childhood services remain relevant to the needs of the children and all other stakeholders and increases sustainability (http://www.unesco.org).  This statement ties back to one of my goals which is to instill in parents the importance of parental involvement.  Parental involvement is vitally important to the development of children in childcare programs.  Building positive relationships with the students as well as the parents is very important.  UNESCO is dedicated to promoting quality childcare programs.

In dealing with Access and Equity some countries have made a commitment to expand and improve early childhood care and education.  This is especially true for low-income and disadvantaged children. The government was urged to expand equitable access to quality early childhood services underscoring the importance of instituting policy in favor of the poor (http://www.unesco.org).  Alternative services are usually promoted to the poor children with limited or no access to mainstream the early childhood services.  This often raises concerns about sustainability and quality.  In some cases the government may have limited resources so they use what is called a pro-poor policy that allow them to redistribute some of the resources by reducing the state support for the more privileged children http://www.unesco.org). According to this article the government must ensure equitable distribution of resources among the different populations especially those who are in the disadvantaged regions.  Vulnerable children need equal access.

UNESCO’S mission to educate is one of its principal activities to achieve.  They are committed to a holistic and humanistic vision of quality education worldwide.  The objectives are to support the achievement for all (EFA) to provide global and regional leadership in education, to strengthen education systems worldwide for early childhood to the adult years (http://www.unesco.org).  They focus on increasing access and equity as well as improving quality.  They work with the governments and a wide range of partners to make education systems more effective through policy change (http://www.unesco.org).

Reference

All Information retrieved from http://www.unesco.org

Sharing Web Resources Week 6

            When I followed some of the outside links for Harlem Children’s Zone it lead me to the Harlem Children’s Zone College Success Office.  This office assists the students who have graduated from high school to enroll in appropriate colleges.  It not only assists them in getting in the colleges it also helps them throughout their college years (http://www.hcz.org).  Statistics from the Harlem Children’s Zone shows that over 642 of the students who attended the after school programs enrolled in college (http://www.hcz.org). 

            In my search the one area that I have admired the most is the Early Childhood programs and how they recognized the importance of the first three years of a child’s life and how critical it is to their development (http://www.hcz.org).  They have three fantastic programs for early childhood education.  The first one is the Baby College.  This program has workshops for expected parents and those that may be raising children up to age three (3) (http://www.hcz.org).  This is a way for expected parents to gain knowledge about parenting before their babies are born.  All of these services are free of charge to all communities (http://www.hcz.org). 

            The second program is the Three Year Old Journey.  This program assists parents on Saturday’s for several months.  It focuses on child development, language building skills, and parenting skills (http://www.hcz.org).  The third program is the Harlem Gems.  This program is designed to prepare pre-kindergarteners for kindergarten.  The classes teach English, Spanish, and French.  This program includes 3 sites which serve 200 children.  It seems to me that the HCZ places a lot of focus on the Early Childhood programs because they know that the returns will be worth every effort they put forth to educate the children. 

            I applied for the newsletter but I have not received any correspondence back from the HCZ.  Each time I have checked the newsletter sign-in I get a message that states that it takes 2-3 business days for the process to be completed.  I am still hopeful.  The website does contain information that adds to my understanding of equity and excellence in early care and education because it provides education, social-services, and community building programs to children and their families.  The three barriers that we have discussed in this week’s assignment Awareness, Accessibility, and Responsiveness are barriers that the HCZ are eliminating on a daily basis.

            Each time I view the Harlem Children’s Zone website I gain new knowledge as it pertains to the early childhood field.  This week I was overwhelmed when I read about Harlem’s Single Stop program.  This program brings about awareness concerning people, securing benefits, access to legal guidance, and even domestic violence.  These sessions are one-on-one sessions (http://www.hcz.org). 

Reference

http://www.hcz.org

Getting to know Your International Contacts Part 2 Week 5

I am discussing the alternative from the Center on the Developing Child from Harvard University.  The Global Children’s Initiative center draws on lessons from our work in the United States.  It seeks to advance the center’s core mission globally by implementing a compelling research, public engagement and leadership development agenda in child health and development that is grounded in Science and engages researchers, public leaders, practitioners, and students from a wide range of institutions around the world (http://developingchild.harvard.edu). 

            I have gained several insights about Early Childhood systems around the globe.  The first insight that I have gained is how the first goal of The Global Children’s Initiative is designed to reframe the discourse around child health and development in the global policy arena by educating high-level decision-makers about the underlying science of learning, behavior, and health beginning in the earliest years of life (http://developingchild.harvard.edu).  I find this very important because if the decision-makers are educated in science, behavior, and the health of children from the very beginning of life then they will make the decisions in the interest of EVERY child and no children will be left behind.

            The second insight I gained was the information pertaining to (UBC) Un Buen Comienzo “A Good Start” which is a collaborative project in Chile which is to improve the quality of education in four to six year olds in language development through teacher professional development.  It is also designed to assist with health issues that would normally keep children from attending school.  This will help by improving the children’s health which will improve their school attendance.  The (UBC) also seeks to get and keep parental involvement from their parents.

            The Third insight I gained was how this article talked about how some studies have been successful in investigating the impact of Early Childhood experiences on children’s developmental, health, and educational outcomes in developing countries.  In Zambian Africa there is little evidence available on Early Childhood development.  Because of this several organizations along with Harvard University came together collaboratively to launch a project which is called the Zambia Early Childhood Development Project.  It is designed to measure effects of Anti-Malaria on the children in Zambia.  A test called the (ZamCAT) was created which is an assessment tool to assess physical, socio-emotional, and cognitive development before and throughout the children’s schooling (http://developingchild.harvard.edu).

            The Global Children’s Initiative is preparing future and current leaders to build and leverage knowledge that will promote the healthy development of children and families and bring high returns in all of society (http://developingchild.harvard.edu).

Reference

http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative

 

           

           

Sharing Web Resources Week 4

                My organization of choice is the Harlem Children’s Zone.  The information that seems particularly relevant to my current professional development for this week is investing in early childhood programs.  This is a good topic to compare with the Harlem Children’s Zone because Geoffrey Canada, the President of the Harlem Children’s Zone is doing whatever it takes to educate children and strengthen their communities.  In order for children to do well, their families have to do well.  And for families to do well, their community must do well (http://www.hcz.org).   This is why as educators we must work to strengthen families as well as empowering them to have a positive impact on their children’s development.  So we can see that it takes more than just educators to advocate for early childhood programs.  It will take the entire community which includes the parents, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and politicians.  The HCZ programs are absolutely free of charge to the children and their families and these programs are not funded by the government.  If Geoffrey Canada knows that investing in these children will produce a high rate of return later, what are we waiting on?  We can use the Harlem Children’s Zone as a model for where we want our school systems and communities to be and what we need to do to get there. 

             The information from the Harlem Children’s Zone website has made me see that having a dream for young children and their communities that will remove them from poverty can become a reality.  I have often wondered if it was possible for my community to improve and to produce children that will help strengthen our economy.  The HCZ allows me to see that this is possible.  We must develop the same attitudes as the Harlem Children’s Zone staff.  We must not give up hope.  The whatever it takes attitude is what we must keep in mind if we are going to help our children succeed.

            This website has shown the support of not only economists, neuroscientists, and politicians, but it has also shown the support of several of the United States President’s.  President Bill Clinton made a quote about the Harlem Children’s Zone that states “If you volunteer or give money to the Harlem Children’s Zone, you know you will get a high rate of return” (http://www.hcz.org).   President Barack Obama stated that “The Harlem Children’s Zone is an all-encompassing, all-hands-on-deck, anti-poverty effort that is literally saving a generation of children” (http:///www.hcz.org).   I am of the mind that if donated dollars to the Harlem Children’s Zone can produce high returns then governmental funds and grants can do the exact same thing for children as well.  Our objective should be the same as the Harlem Children’s Zone and that is to create a safety net woven so tightly that children just can’t slip through the cracks (http://www.hcz.org).

             The last thing that I gained from this site is the love and compassion that the staffs provide and show the students.  I love their attitudes and their whatever it takes motto. 

Reference

The Harlem Children’s Zone.   Retrieved from http://www.hcz.org

 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Getting to Know Your International Contacts

            I have not received a response from The National Early Childhood Development Alliance; therefore I will be using the alternate method that I chose.  I listened to The World Forum Radio where several early childhood educators communicated concerning poverty and how it affects children.  Tackling childhood poverty is critical.  One educator talks about how we as educators can spread awareness and how it will help the children and their families. 

            From listening to the World Forum Radio I have learned that poverty affects a big portion of communities all over the world.  The World Forum has educators from all over the world that participates in discussions of various topics within the Early Childhood field such as what impacts organizations and programs can have on poverty in communities and the impact that poverty has on children.  After listening to the educators speak on the subject of poverty I went to the website where I read that over 600 million children world-wide live in absolute poverty.  At least 60% of children are living in households that have incomes below poverty level (http://www.childpoverty.org). 

            In the developing countries over 10 million children die each year from diseases that are preventable.  This is due to poverty.  I have gained several insights from the radio and reading the website.  The first insight that I gained is that if we don’t help our children who live in poverty today, they will become parents to children who will also be in poverty tomorrow.  As educators we must spread awareness so that we can help break the cycles in poor families that has been passed down from generation to generation.  We can do this by simple educating the children.

            I have gain insight on what poverty is and what we can do to help eliminate it.  The best possible way to help eliminate poverty in our communities is by advocating to government leaders, senators, and others to keep the programs that start children to learning at an early age.  As we educate all children we make them aware of poverty and how important it is for them to receive the best education possible so that they can in return get good jobs to be above the poverty line, and this will allow them the opportunity to take good care of their families which brings them out of poverty.  The cycle can be broken and raising awareness is the answer. 

      

References

The World Forum Foundation.  Retrieved from http://www.childhoodpovert.org

 The World Foundation Radio.  Retrieved from http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php

 

Sharing Web Resources

Harlem Children’s Zone

The Harlem Children’s Zone is an organization that resulted from the Harlem Children’s Zone Project.  This project was a unique, holistic approach to rebuilding a community so that its children could stay on track through college and become productive citizens in the job market.  The HCZ focuses on helping children, their families and the community.  Geoffrey Canada, the CEO, has reworked the strategy.  The strategy is to assist children by creating what they called a ‘conveyor belt” to take children and their parents from baby college to college.  The HCZ teach the parents to care for their children as they prepare their children for success, and this is done at the earliest possible age so that they can impact the children when they are easiest to touch (http://www.hcz.org).

                The Harlem Children’s Zone has several programs that are included within their Early Childhood, Elementary School, Middle School, High School, prep for College, Family, Community, and Health, and Promise Academy charter Schools programs.  Another program that is very interesting to me is The Baby College.  This program is a nine (9) week program that works with expecting parents and those who are raising children up to three years of age.  It teaches the parents the importance of reading and it also teaches them how to use verbal discipline over corporal punishment.  They also promote a program that they call Get Ready for Pre-K program.  This program takes the children that will be enrolling in the fall to the Pre-Kindergarten program on a six week journey to prepare them for kindergarten.  I think that this is really great.  Another program is called the Harlem Gems.  This program is for pre-kindergarten children.  This program is designed to get these students ready for the kindergarten.  This program has three sites.  As you can see the Harlem Children’s Zone’s CEO and his staff are committed to assisting all children is reaching their full potential. 

            One issue that this organization has dealt with is poverty in the Harlem communities.  This is one of the main reasons this community based organization created the Harlem Children’s Project.  The Harlem Children’s Zone believed that the citizens in our country could not rely on the various programs that are offered to save children in the various communities (http://www.hcz.org).  This program assists over 10,000 children each year and has even communicated with other communities about creating programs similar to the Harlem Children’s Zone.  The Harlem Children’s Zone is winning the war over poverty.

            From studying this organization I also learned that the Harlem Children’s Zone is also diversity focused which is one of the topics we discussed in our lesson for this week.  The link for the Harlem Children’s Zone is http://www.hcz.org.

 

Reference

Retrieved from the Harlem Children’s Zone website http://www.hcz.org

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources in the Early Childhood Field

    

Establishing Professional Contacts

I am excited as I attempt to contact my two people from other countries that work as educators, administrators, or even on the government level who are interested in Early Childhood Education.  I have e-mailed to South Africa at cecd@iafrica.com and Armenia at ruzanna@sbsbf.am .  In my e-mail I explained that I am a graduate student at Walden University and that I am studying Early Childhood Education.  I explained that my assignment throughout the course I am taking which is Issues and Trends in Early Childhood Education requires me to stay in contact with two people in other countries in order to gain new perspectives of different issues as they relate to people around the world.  I asked them to participate in this assignment with me so that I could compare our issues and trends in the United States with those of South Africa.  I have not received any correspondence back but I am certainly hopeful that the professionals will respond back to me in a professional manner.  If I do not receive responses within the next week I will chose the alternate and contact the World Forum.

Expanding Resources

In choosing my Early Childhood website I randomly typed in the e-mail addresses to see how appealing the sites would look.  The most appealing site to me was the Harlem Children’s Zone.  This is the website that I will follow throughout this course.  I have signed up for the newsletter and I am awaiting confirmation of my registration.  I have already looked at some of the positive ground-breaking efforts that have been made at the Harlem Children’s Zone.  They have what has been named Baby College parenting workshops, the Harlem Gems which is their pre-school program, and I also read about an obesity program that they have to help children to stay healthy.  The website address for the Harlem Children’s Zone is http://www.hcz.org/ .

I look forward to bringing you, my colleagues updates on how this organization supports their Early

Childhood community and what resources it has to offer.

My Support

My support system means everything to me.  I am the person that I am today because of my supports.

My mother is so supportive.  She is truly the wind beneath my wings.  She supports me by giving her love and support in all of my endeavors.  She supports me financially although I am now on my own.  She supports me by giving me the best advice in the world.  She has supported me by allowing my dreams to become her dreams.  Whatever I set out to do my mother has always been the one that backed me 100% and more.   I have great benefits because of her support.  I have graduated from high school and college because she supported me.  I am a passionate and caring person because she showed me so much love and support.  The best benefit that has come from her support is that I am reaching my full potential as a person.  Her goal was to make sure that I was able to become a productive person in society.  This mission is being accomplished.  Without her support I truly don’t know where I would be.  I just can’t even think of a time when she wasn’t there for me.  My mother would definitely have a great impact on my life when she is gone.  I know that she will leave me with good morals and values.  She will leave me with the most precious gift of all the ability to love and to be compassionate.   She will leave me with the ability to care for and nurture my children and to instill good morals and values in them.  She will also leave me with the ability to respect and love God. 

My cousin Abe is also supportive.  He is the younger version of my mother.  I always tell him that he is only three years older than I am and he laughs softly.  He is so wise beyond his years.  He supports me by encouraging me to continue my education.  We talk about goals, careers, and life more than any young people that I know.  He also supports me financially.  If I need money I can always call on him for assistance.  I am benefiting from his encouragement and support today because he encouraged me to enroll in Walden University to receive my Master’s degree.  This will be a big benefit for my future.  I will be able to make one of my dreams a reality and that is to own my own child care facility or to become an educator.

My co-workers are very supportive.  I am the new kid on the block on my job.  All of my co-workers support me by making sure that I have the knowledge and resources to do my job effectively.  They support me by making sure that my job is done when I am away.  I have benefited greatly from some of the older co-workers because they bring so much knowledge about the job.  They are enhancing my skills and giving the drive I need to succeed.   I could exist without them but it would be hard to and it would take a lot of additional time to learn what they have already taught me.  They impact my life by allowing me to see that hard work and dedication pays off. 

My personal friend is very supportive as well.  He supports me by being the one that I can talk to when I’m not having such a great day.  He is always there to listen.  His love that he shows makes me feel I can relax and be at ease about most situations that arise in my life.  He supports me by just being there for me.  The benefit of his support is that I have formed a lasting friend/relationship with the person that I love.   I think it would be kind of difficult if I didn’t have his support but I will still be able to exist without him.  The impact that he would leave with me if he was gone is to not be afraid to love again because we always talk about what would happen if one of us were not around for the other. 

 My challenge would have to be my future goal of owning and opening up my own child care facility.   My career goal to me will definitely be a challenge.  In order to make this goal become a reality, I will need financial support, my own attorney, and a good office manager.  I truly believe that I am very capable of making my career goal a reality.  My mother and my cousin will be a great support system.  My mother is an accountant and my cousin is a lawyer.  They are both supports that I know I can depend on.  I will definitely need to complete my course work at Walden University in order to have all the necessary skills that I need in order to run a successful child care facility.  Today Walden is a support because they are giving me the knowledge that I will need to successfully open up my own child care facility.  If Walden University was gone I would have to rely on another institution for my degree.  I don't know if I would get the professionalism and integrity that I am receiving from this institution.

My mother can assist me with the office and payroll and my cousin can give me legal advice in whatever aspect I will need it.  I will benefit from this because I will not have to pay them.  They will support me in whatever way they can to help me succeed in life.  If these two people were gone it would be a big challenge for me to do this alone.  I would need extra money to hire an attorney and an accountant.  By having my mother and my cousin I will benefit because I know that they both have my best interest at heart and I will not need as much start up money because I know that they will not ask to be paid.

 

"My Connections to Play"

QUOTES

Children need the freedom and time to play.  Play is not a luxury.  Play is a necessity.

-Kay Redfield Jamison

 Play allows you to gain personal growth, social skills, cognitive skills, physical skills, and it enhances children’s creativity.  When I was not able to play outside it really made me sad.  It was just as much a part of me as eating and sleeping was.

 Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning

-Fred Rogers

 Play gave me the opportunity to practice cooking and caring for my dolls.  This was important to me because my mother cooked for me and she nurtured and cared for me.  I mimicked my mother whenever I could while I was involved in play.

 

PICTURES

 

 

Playing with dolls was one of my favorite play times when I was in nursery school.  Taking care of my baby was very important to me because my mother nurtured and took good care of me.  Feeding was the most important play time for me.  I loved feeding my baby while she was sitting in my arms.

 

 

My favorite play time was cooking.  This was important to me because I often sit in the kitchen with my mother and watched her prepare me great mills.  She would talk to me about safety tips in cooking as she cooked.  I wanted to be the best cook in the world so I practiced cooking eggs at the nursery school I attended every day. 

SUPPORT

 When I was young teachers and parents supported play.  I can remember how my teacher would sit with us and pretend to eat what we had cooked on the stove.  She would move from one center to the other participating and interacting with the children as they played.  It appeared to me that the teacher enjoyed seeing us smile, interacting, and playing.  My mother also took time out to take me to the park often.  It was a joy to meet new friends at the park.  Some are still my friends today.  The swings and the merry-go-rounds were my favorite.  It was always a thrill to sit down on the merry-go-round while an adult pushed us around until we begged to get off.  There was so much parental engagement in play time when I was younger.  This was really great for us because we got to exercise, socialize, and grow up as healthy children. 

DIFFERENCES IN PLAY TODAY

 As I reflect back on play when I was in nursery school and preschool I get a good feeling that brings a smile to my face.  My experiences were great.  I can remember the various centers that we were able to play at that contributed greatly to my cognitive, social, and emotional skills.  For example when we played with the blocks we learned to count, recognized shapes, our alphabets, and the list goes on.  We learned how to socialize and interact with others, we learned what emotions were and we formed lasting relationships with other students and the teachers.  When we played on the playground we got a chance to exercise which allowed us healthy development.

Now play is not prayed upon.  In fact, a lot of parents are not even familiar with the different types of play and how it contributes to their child’s cognitive, social, emotional, and healthy development.  They are not educators so they don’t know what is involved in play.  Stands and benchmarks that most states develop clearly identify what is expected of students at the end of each grade including preschool (Geist, Baum, 2005).  Even in nurseries they have a curriculum that has been developed to identify what students should be taught.  So the play that we had has been chopped down greatly.  Students still have play but the time is so limited.  We played it seems forever.  It appears that no one is concerned about what is best for the child anymore.  Everything that teachers do is about getting the subject introduced and staying on target with what they have to introduce next.  Sometimes students are left behind because they have not mastered the concept.  Teachers still have to move on.  So my question is how can we say that No Child is Left Behind when in fact they are.  I sincerely hope that we can advocate making others see how important play is in child care centers, nursery schools, preschool, and school. 

Why?  Because children do learn a significant amount from each other while they are playing and they form relationships lasting relationships that allows us to have better schools, and communities.  As we advocate I hope that others will recognize that play is needed and reinstate it to its norm.  That means play inside the class and recess as well.  The difference in my play then and the play now has taken a drastic change.  I played with dolls, doll houses, and cooked on play stoves.  Children today play with electronic games.  Most have IPOD’s, IPhones, and IPads at an early age.  This to me isolates them from most real social interactions.  Although they can face time people it just seems that the one on one contact in the classroom worked better for me.

THOUGHTS OF PLAY

I feel the role of play in my life was very instrumental in me becoming the passionate, caring, and intelligent person that I am today.  Play allowed me the opportunity to learn, share, care, and have a healthy lifestyle.  Play also allowed me the opportunity to form relationships with people whom I still interact with today.  It allowed me the opportunity to mimic my mother in cooking and caring for others which I think is really important.  It enhanced my cognitive skills by allowing me to learn colors, numbers, geometric shapes, and measurements by playing with the sand.  Play also allowed me the opportunity understand others emotions when they were not happy.  Throughout my childhood play in school was the one thing that taught me how to share.  Because I was an only child it was very hard for me to share with others.  In spite of my mother’s teaching me to share it was still a difficult task until I observed others sharing during play at school.  Being able to be creative and having your imagination working overtime was another positive impact of play during my childhood

 

References

 

 

Geist, E., & Baum, A. (2005). Yeah, But's that keep teachers from embracing an active curriculum. Young Children, 60(4), 28-36.   Retrieved from the Walden Library using the ProQuest Central database

Retrieved from http://www.thestrong.org/about-play/play-quotes

Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?